--Prohibit
an individual from being required to engage in or refrain from certain
activities (such as joining or paying dues to a labor organization) as a
condition of public employment, except as provided for police and fire
department employees and State Police troopers and sergeants.

--Prescribe
a $500 maximum civil fine for a violation of that prohibition, and allow a
person injured by a violation to bring a civil action for damages, injunctive
relief, or both.

--Give
the Court of Appeals exclusive jurisdiction over an action challenging the
validity of this prohibition and the exceptions to it.

--Prohibit
a person from forcing or attempting to force a public employee to engage in or
refrain from certain activities (such as joining or supporting a labor
organization); and prescribe a $500 maximum civil fine for a violation.

--Delete
provisions under which all public employees in a bargaining unit may be
required to pay the bargaining representative a service fee equivalent to dues.

--Appropriate
$1.0 million to the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs in fiscal
year 2012-13 for implementation of the amendments.

(The Act governs collective bargaining
between public employers and representatives of their employees. The definition
of "public employee" includes a person holding a position by
appointment or employment in State or local government, in the public school
service, and in any other branch of the public service, subject to exceptions.)

Organizing
& Collective Bargaining

The Act states that it is lawful for public
employees to organize together or form, join, or assist in labor organizations,
engage in lawful concerted activities for the purpose of collective negotiation
or bargaining or other mutual aid and protection, or negotiate or bargain
collectively with their public employers through representatives of their
choice.

The bill, instead, would permit public employees
to engage in those activities or to refrain from any or all of them.

Condition-of-Employment Prohibition

Except as provided below (for police and
fire department employees and State Police troopers and sergeants), the bill
would prohibit any individual from being required as a condition of obtaining
or continuing public employment to do any of the following:

--Refrain
or resign from membership in, voluntary affiliation with, or voluntary
financial support of a labor organization or bargaining representative.

--Become
or remain a member of a labor organization or bargaining representative.

--Pay
any dues, fees, assessments, or other charges or expenses of any kind or amount,
or provide anything of value to a labor organization or bargaining
representative.

Also, as a condition of obtaining or
continuing public employment, an individual could not be required to pay to any
charitable organization or third party any amount that was in lieu of,
equivalent to, or any portion of dues, fees, assessments, or other charges or
expenses required of members of or public employees represented by a labor
organization or bargaining representative.

An agreement, contract, understanding, or
practice between or involving a public employer, labor organization, or
bargaining representative that violated this prohibition would be unlawful and
unenforceable. This would apply only to an agreement, contract, understanding,
or practice that would take effect or be extended or renewed after the bill's
effective date.

A person, public employer, or labor
organization that violated the prohibition would be liable for a civil fine of
up to $500. The fine would have to be submitted to the State Treasurer for
deposit in the State's General Fund.

Except for actions required to be brought
in the Court of Appeals, a person who suffered an injury as a result of a
violation or threatened violation of the prohibition could bring a civil action
for damages, injunctive relief, or both. A court also could award court costs
and reasonable attorney fees to a prevailing plaintiff. These remedies would
be independent of and in addition to other penalties and remedies prescribed by
PERA.

Exception for Police & Fire Employees

The condition-of-employment prohibition
would not apply to either of the following:

--A
public police or fire department employee or any person seeking to become
employed as a public police or fire department employee, as that term is
defined in Public Act 312 of 1969.

--A
State Police trooper or sergeant granted rights under Article XI, Section 5 of
the State Constitution or any individual seeking to become employed as a State
Police trooper or sergeant.

The bill would permit any of these individuals,
or a labor organization or bargaining representative representing them, and a
public employer or this State, to agree that all employees in the bargaining
unit would have to share fairly in the financial support of the labor
organization or the exclusive bargaining representative by paying a fee to the
labor organization or bargaining representative that could be equivalent to the
amount of dues uniformly required of members of the labor organization or
exclusive bargaining representative.

Provisions of the bill that would prohibit
someone from being compelled to join or refrain from joining a labor
organization (as described below) could not be construed to interfere with the
right of a public employer or the State and a labor organization or bargaining
representative to enter into or lawfully administer such an agreement as it
related to the individuals listed above.

If a court found that any of the proposed exceptions
for police and fire department employees and State Police troopers and sergeants
were invalid, those individuals would no longer be exempted from the condition-of-employment
prohibition, and the bill's provision allowing a fair-share agreement would not
apply to them.

(Public Act 312 of 1969 provides for
compulsory arbitration of labor disputes in police and fire departments. The
Act defines "public police or fire department employee" as any
employee of a city, county, village, or township, or of any authority,
district, board, or any other entity created by the authorization of one or
more cities, counties, villages, or townships, who is engaged as a police
officer, or in fire-fighting or subject to the hazards of fire-fighting, or an
emergency telephone operator if directly employed by a public police or fire
department.

Article XI, Section 5 of the State
Constitution provides that State Police troopers and sergeants, through their
elected representative, have the right to bargain collectively with their
employer concerning conditions of their employment, compensation, hours,
retirement, pensions, and other aspects of employment.)

Court of Appeals Jurisdiction

The Court of Appeals would have exclusive
original jurisdiction over any action challenging the validity of the condition-of-employment
prohibition, and the exceptions for police and fire department employees and
State Police troopers and sergeants. The Court would have to hear the action
in an expedited manner.

Unlawful Force, Intimidation, or Compulsion

The bill would prohibit a person by force,
intimidation, or unlawful threats, from compelling or attempting to compel any
public employee to do any of the following:

--Become
or remain a member of a labor organization or bargaining representative, or
otherwise affiliate with or financially support a labor organization or
bargaining representative.

--Refrain
from engaging in employment or from joining a labor organization or bargaining
representative or otherwise affiliating with or financially supporting a labor
organization or bargaining representative.

--Pay
to any charitable organization or third party an amount that would be in lieu
of, equivalent to, or any portion of dues, fees, assessments, or other charges
or expenses required of members of or public employees represented by a labor
organization or bargaining representative.

A person who violated this prohibition
would be liable for a civil fine of up to $500. The fine would have to be
submitted to the State Treasurer for deposit in the State's General Fund.

Service Fee Requirement

The Act prohibits a public employer from
discriminating in regard to hiring, terms, or other conditions of employment to
encourage or discourage membership in a labor organization.

Neither the Act nor any other law, however,
precludes a public employer from making an agreement with an exclusive
bargaining representative to require as a condition of employment that all
employees in the bargaining unit pay to the bargaining representative a service
fee equivalent to the amount of dues uniformly required of members of the exclusive
bargaining representative. The bill would delete this provision.

Public Act 25 of 1973 amended several
sections of PERA, and the Act states that it is the purpose of Public Act 25 to
reaffirm the continuing public policy of the State that the stability and effectiveness
of labor relations in the public sector require, if negotiated with the public
employer, that all employees in the bargaining unit share fairly in the
financial support of their exclusive bargaining representative by paying to the
representative a service fee that may be equivalent to the amount of dues
uniformly required of members of the exclusive bargaining representative.

The bill would delete this language.

School Employee Bargaining

The public employment relations Act lists
various subjects that may not be included in collective bargaining between a
public school employer and a bargaining representative of its employees. The
bill would add to the list any requirement that would violate Section 10(3)
(which contains the proposed condition-of-employment prohibition).

Appropriation

For fiscal year 2012-13, the bill would
appropriate $1.0 million to the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs
to be spent to do all of the following:

--Respond
to public inquiries regarding the bill.

--Provide
the Michigan Employment Relations Commission with sufficient staff and other
resources to implement the bill.

--Inform
public employers, public employees, and labor organizations about their rights
and responsibilities under the bill.

The appropriation also could be spent for
any other purposes that the Department Director determined necessary to
implement the bill.

MCL 423.201 et al. Legislative
Analyst: Suzanne Lowe

FISCAL IMPACT

The bill would have an indeterminate fiscal
impact on State and local government.

The bill would delete provisions that allow
a public employer to collect a fee equal to the membership dues collected from
members if an individual declines to join a labor organization, except the bill
would allow the collection of these fees for police and fire department
employees. The fees are credited to the labor organization. At this time, it
is impossible to quantify what, if any, impact this change could have on the
finances of State and local government. Since the bill would exclude
firefighters and police officers from proposed the condition-of-employment
prohibition, any changes to collective bargaining agreements that could be
attributed to the bill would likely have less of an impact on local governments
than on State government.

Also, the bill would establish a $500 maximum
civil fine for a person, public employer, or labor organization that violated a
prohibition under the bill. It is unknown how many parties would commit a
violation, but revenue from the fines would be credited to the General Fund.

In addition, the bill includes a $1.0
million fiscal year 2012-13 appropriation to the Department of Licensing and
Regulatory Affairs for public inquiries, staffing, provision of information,
and other activities related to the bill. It is not clear what the actual
amount of these costs would be, or how much, if any, of this appropriation
would be spent.

Fiscal
Analyst: Josh Sefton

[Please see the PDF version of this analysis, if available, to view this image.]

This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan
Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute
an official statement of legislative intent.